Medical electrode.



No. 707,438. Patented Aug. I9, |902;

G. e. MARSHALL.

MEDICAL ELECTBODE.

(Application tiled May 2, 1902.)

(No Model.)

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GEORGE GUERIN MARSHALL, OF lVALLlNGFORD, VERMONT.

Wl EDlCAL ELECTRODE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 707,438, dated August 19, 1902.

Application filed May 2, 1902. Serial No. 105,620. (No model.)

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Be it known that l, GEORGE GUERIN MAR- SHALL, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of lVallingford, in the county of Rutland and State of Vermont, have invented a new and Improved Electrode, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

The object ot the invention is to provide a new and improved electrode, more especially designed for the use of physicians in the treatment of diseases of the stomach, which is simple and durable in construction, arranged to permit convenient cleaning, and shaped to allow the patient to readilyswallow the electrode.

The invention consists of novel features and parts and combinations of the same, as will be more fully described hereinafter and then pointed out in the claims.

A practical embodiment of the invention is represented in the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which similar characters of reference indicate correspending parts in all the views.

Figure l is a side elevation of the improvement as applied. Fig. 2 is an enlarged sectional side elevation of the same. Fig. 3 is a sectional plan view of the same on the line 3 3 of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is an enlarged sectional side elevation of a modiiied form of the improvement, and Fig. 5 is a like view of another modifiedv form of the improvement.

The electrode consists, essentially, of a cap A, of hard rubber or other suitable non-conducting material, and a conductor B, removably held in the cap and secured at the outer end to one end of one or more wires O, carrying at the other end a plug D for attachment to the electric machine supplying the current. The wire or wires C are inclosed in the usual rubber tube E. The cap A is provided with an opening or passage A, extending from one end of the cap to the other, the opening being wider at the lower end than at the top to prevent pulling the conductor B out of the narrower end, as will be readily understood by reference to Figs. 2, l, and 5.

The conductor B (shown in Figs. 2 and 3) is made of spring-wire bent in the form of an S, of which the larger end B fits snugly against the wall of the passage A at the lower wider portion thereof, while the smaller end B2 extends freely through tlie upper or small end of the passage A', and this end B2 is secured to the Wire C and is also preferably covered by the end of the rubber tube E, as plainly indicated in the drawings. New it will be seen that as the end B' of the conductor B is wider than the upper end of the passage A' it is evident that the conductor is securely held in place in the cap A and the gastric juice or other liquid in the stomach can readily pass through both ends of the passage A' to the uncovered portion of the conductor B and at the same time the conductor B cannot be pulled out of the small end of the passage A; When it is desired, however, to remove the conductor B from the cap A for cleaning or other purposes, then the conductor B is pushed downward by pressing the end B2 and holding the cap A stationary to cause the oonductor to readily pass out of the lower wider end of the cap. It is understood that when drawing the conductor into the cap at the lower end thereof the resiliency of the spring- Wire causes the end B to contract to firmly abut against the wall of the passage A' at the wide portion thereof, so that the electrode is securely held in position in the cap A. The wire O adjacent tothe conductor is stiEEened by the employment of additional wires, so that the electrode can be readily passed over the root of the tongue of the patient to the pharynx to allow easy swallowing of the electrode.

The conductor B3 (shown in Fig. 4) is in the form 'of a metallic plate having tapering sides engaging the tapering sides of the passage A' of the cap, and the said conductor is provided at the small end with a threaded shank B4, on which screws a nut B5, adapted to be seated in the small end of the cap A. The nut is grooved to receive the wires C.

In the form shown in Fig. 5 the plate-conductor B has an apertured shank B7, on which the wires C are secured, the neck of the shank being engaged by the flexible tube E, bound in place by binding threads or wires E.

In all the cases described and shown it will be noticed that the conductor can only enter the cap A at the large end of the passage A and cannot be drawn through the small end thereof, and as the strain on the conductor is only'in the direction from the large end of the passage to the small end it is evident that IOO the conductor cannot become disconnected from the cap while in use.

By the arrangement described the cap A can be made comparatively small and exceedingly thin, so that the patient can readily swallow the electrode Without aid from the physician, and at the same time the gastric juice or other liquid in the stomach can readily pass to the conductor Within the cap A, so as to close the circuit when the external electrode is applied externally to the body of the patient. The form of the conductor may be greatly varied Without deviatin g from the spirit of my invention.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patentl. An electrode comprising a cap of nonconducting material, havinga passage from one end of the cap to the other, and a metallic conductor held in the said cap and adapted to pass into the said passage at the large end thereof, and held against outward movement through the small end of the passage by the sides of the conductor engaging the side walls of the passage between the ends, as set forth.

2. An electrode comprising a cap of nonconducting material and having a tapering opening or passage, and a metallic conductor held in the said cap and engaging the walls of the passage at the widest portion thereof, as set forth.

3. An electrode comprising a cap having an opening or passage lengthwise through the cap, and a conductor removably held in the said passage, as set forth.,

4. An electrode comprising a cap of nonconducting material, formed with an opening or passage contracted at one end, and a conductor in the cap, engaging the Walls of the passage, the reduced outer end ot the said conductor extending through an end opening of the cap, as set forth.

5. An electrode comprising a cap of nonconducting material, formed With a tapering opening, and a conductor in the form of a tapering metallic plate, engaging the side Walls of the opening, between the ends of the opening, as set forth. Y

6. An electrodecomprising a cap of nonconducting material, formed with a tapering opening, and a conductor in the form of a tapering metallic plate, engaging the side Walls of theopening, between the ends of the opening, the plate havingashank and a nut screwing thereon and seated 0n the cap at the reduced end of the opening, as set forth.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

GEORGE GUERIN MARSHALL.

Vtitnesses:

E. C. PARMENTER, L. M. STONE. 

